Swahili comparison

This file defines the Swahili comparative constructions as Stassen describes them. The primary comparative takes the standard as the object of the exceed verb -shinda in the infinitive, mti huu ni mrefu ku-shinda ule 'this tree is taller than that one', an exceed comparative whose comparative predicate is the main verb. A second construction marks the standard with kuliko, the infinitive of -liko 'be at', as in nyumba yake nzuri sana kuliko nyumba yangu 'his house is better than my house', literally 'while there is my house', which Stassen calls an indeterminate case, modelled on a chain but without an exceed verb. Swahili also has a secondary conjoined comparative of the antonymous subtype, two juxtaposed clauses, jogoo wa Ali hodari, yule wa Juma dhaifu 'Ali's rooster is stronger than Juma's', which follows its balanced adversative chaining. The adjective carries no degree marking in any of the three.

Main definitions

• Swahili.Comparison.kushinda: the exceed comparative
• Swahili.Comparison.kuliko: the construction with the standard after kuliko
• Swahili.Comparison.conjoined: the conjoined comparative

Main results

• Swahili.Comparison.type_kushinda, Swahili.Comparison.type_conjoined: the exceed and the conjoined constructions have the types their anatomy gives them

Implementation notes

• The kuliko construction has a fixed adverbial standard in no spatial case, so the finer typology of Studies/Stassen1985.lean assigns it no type, which is Stassen's indeterminacy, while the typology of the atlas collapses it to locational.

References

• L. Stassen, Comparison and Universal Grammar (1985)

def Swahili.Comparison.kushinda : Comparative

The exceed comparative, whose standard is the object of the infinitive ku-shinda 'exceed' and whose adjective is unmarked for degree.

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

def Swahili.Comparison.kuliko : Comparative

The construction whose standard follows kuliko, the infinitive of -liko 'be at', an adverbial standard in no spatial case.

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

def Swahili.Comparison.conjoined : Comparative

The conjoined comparative juxtaposes two clauses with antonymous predicates.

Equations

• Swahili.Comparison.conjoined = { caseAssignment := Comparative.CaseAssignment.derived }

theorem Swahili.Comparison.type_kushinda : kushinda.type = Comparative.ComparativeType.exceed

The exceed construction is an exceed comparative.

theorem Swahili.Comparison.type_conjoined : conjoined.type = Comparative.ComparativeType.conjoined

The juxtaposed construction is a conjoined comparative.